Livio Bassi of 395a Squadriglia as damaged in combat and later destroyed by fire in an attempted forced landing at Berat. On 23 February, Cullen attacked a CANT Z.506 three-engined floatplane as it was taking off at Preveza in Greece, at first simply attempting to prevent it from getting airborne but then, when it refused to stop, destroying it on a second pass. The result did not add to his official score, as the Italian plane was not in full flight at the time of its destruction. Hurricanes By the time No. 80 Squadron began re-equipping with Hawker Hurricanes in February 1941, Cullen's total of aerial victories stood at six enemy aircraft destroyed, plus one probable. He had earned a reputation for extreme aggression and doggedness in the air. His favourite tactic was to duel head-on with his intended victim, two aircraft firing at each other with a closing speed of over ; he was quoted as saying, "It's always interesting to see who will pull away first". His colleagues reportedly said of him, "He never came out of a fight while a single enemy aircraft was left in the sky to give battle. He came home only when his guns were empty." Cullen opened his score in the Hurricane on 27 February, shooting down a Fiat CR.42 while escorting Bristol Blenheim light bombers to Valona, Albania. The day after, in what has been described as "the greatest air battle of this period", he was officially credited with shooting down five Italian planes in the one engagement, a record for his unit. His combat report read: For his achievements on 28 February, the RAF's most successful day of the campaign, Cullen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Italian sources recorded that a Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 was only damaged on 28 February, not shot down, and that the Breda 20s claimed by the RAF were in fact Fiat BR.20s. Cullen claimed another multiple kill on 3 March, when he and one of his comrades chased a group of CANT Z.1007bis that had just bombed Larissa, Greece. Catching the retreating bombers south-west of Corfu, No. 80 Squadron claimed six destroyed and one probable. Cullen was credited with destroying four CANTs and probably destroying another, though the Italians reported that only two CANT bombers were lost. The following day, 4 March, flying Hurricane V7288, Cullen was escorting a group of Blenheims near Himarë